A bad year in which to learn good lessons Dr Kieren Moffat, CEO, Voconiq
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he nature of relationships between communities and the companies that work alongside them continues to evolve at a rapid pace, no more so than in this year of upheaval, uncertainty and disruption. But rather than seeing 2020 as an aberration, this year could be viewed as a window into a future where uncertainty, change and the need to be resilient are dominant rather than exceptional circumstances.
Defining community resilience So, let’s start this reflection with a look at what makes a community resilient. It’s complex, but there are several factors that underpin community resilience, according to research on the topic. They include qualities like economic vitality, preparedness for shocks and having solid institutions to help manage change. Strong local leadership to navigate through troubled waters is also important, as is the strength of social networks within communities, the capacity to communicate within and between these networks effectively, and the mental outlook of individual community members themselves. The resources industry mostly operates in and around regional and remote areas of Australia, which adds additional complexity. 98
BBMC Yearbook 2020
While mining communities may be used to managing change – living alongside an industry where ‘boom and bust’ are part of its nature – regional and remote communities can also be impacted more sharply when upheaval comes. During a commodity price downturn, for example, workforce reductions mean that mining company employees who also play key leadership roles within community may leave, almost overnight. The capacity of these groups to support their members and the community more broadly is also diminished right at the moment when that cohesion is most needed. Unique pandemic responses This change has been different for regional and remote communities, however. The physical distance of communities from major urban centres has largely insulated them from
the spread of COVID-19 while also reinforcing for some a sense of isolation. In our work on community responses to the pandemic in mining communities through 2020, we’ve seen this complexity play out. Communities around the country have been largely confident in their ability to manage the challenges of the pandemic at a local level, but harbour deep concerns about the complex impacts that the virus has and will continue to bring. Specifically, Australian mining communities have consistently said that their two greatest concerns are the transmission of the COVID-19 virus to their communities via workforce movements and the local economic impacts of the pandemic on small businesses and those community groups that rely on events to raise critical funds. At
the same time, ratings of trust in mining companies and government at state and federal levels improved, sometimes dramatically, through the early months of the pandemic emergency. What we learned about trust and responsiveness Together this paints an interesting picture of large parts of regional and remote Australia that is worth thinking about in the context of community resilience. During those early months, say March to June, uncertainty was highest, and life changed dramatically for all of us. Many mining companies initiated significant community funds or redirected sizeable economic resources to support communities, suppliers, workforce safety through roster changes and significant COVID-19 testing regimes and protocols. All this activity was initiated within weeks of the pandemic declaration,
